For the fourth time in the last five years, the Super Bowl will feature the two teams that were their respective conference’s number one seeds, the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

Last season, the AFC’s #1 seeded Patriots squared off against the NFC’s #2 seeded Atlanta Falcons.

The last time the Super Bowl featured no #1 seeded teams was after the 2012 season when #4 seeded Baltimore Ravens faced the #2 seeded San Francisco 49ers. In fact, since 1975 when the NFL went to a seeded format for the post-season, there has only been seven times when no #1 seed played in the Super Bowl. Here are those seasons:

1979: L.A. Rams versus Pittsburgh
1980: Philadelphia versus Oakland
1992: Dallas versus Buffalo
1997: Green Bay versus Denver
2008: Arizona versus Pittsburgh
2010: Green Bay versus Pittsburgh
2012: San Francisco versus Baltimore

If you were wondering why it’s so important to get that #1 conference seed for the playoffs, consider this:

• Of the 86 teams that have played in the Super Bowl since 1975 (when the seeded format was instituted), 49 were #1 seeds (57%); 20 were #2 seeds (23.3%); 4 were #3 seeds; nine were #4 seeds; two were #5 seeds; and 2 were #6 seeds.
• Of the 42 Super Bowl winners since 1975, 24 (57%) were #1 seeds. The #2 seed has won eight times; the #3 seed has won twice; the #4 seed has five Super Bowl titles; the #5 seed has won once; and the #6 seed has won twice.

Stats on Tapp